RODENTS OF THE WORLD. By David Alderton.

(1996) 1996 1st US edition. Pp192. Colour photographs, bibliography, maps.

Of "all the mammals, rodents are undoubtedly the most significant single group. With some 1,500 species, they constitute an amazing forty percent of the world's known mammal population. They have colonized the whole planet - with the common house mouse now found on every continent including Antarctica. This [book] describes the rodent families and their tremendously wide range of lifestyles - from the subterranean ...blind mole rat to the spectacular flying squirrel, from the dam building beaver to the largest present-day rodent, the giant capybara of South America. There are accounts of their many interactions with man, from being despisedpests and carriers of disease to being of economic importance as farmed animals for fur production - or even as domestic pets". Chapters include; rodents and people; form and function; reproduction; evolution and distribution; the order Rodentia; Sciuromorpha - squirrel like rodents; Myomorpha - mouse-like rodents; Caviomorpha - cavy-like rodents; checklist of rodent families.